


About a Girl

by flashofthefuse



Category: Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries
Genre: Dulcinea effect, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-26
Updated: 2017-08-26
Packaged: 2018-12-20 06:57:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11915553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flashofthefuse/pseuds/flashofthefuse
Summary: Love at first sight inspires a young man to acts of chivalry.





	About a Girl

**Author's Note:**

> This is my contribution to the August trope challenge and a continuation of stories about major characters other than Phryne and Jack from the Miss Fisher universe.

Mrs. Pilson is banging on about some dead Dutch guy that discovered how important sunlight is to plants. Fin raises his hand to suggest they go outside to experience this phenomenon in person. Mrs. Pilson is not amused but the class laughs. Except for Barney Herr, who feels the need to point out that you can’t actually see photosynthesis taking place, as if Fin doesn’t know this. Fin rolls his eyes and looks out the window.

The sun is shining, making it a perfect day for photosynthesis and, more importantly, footy. Fin thinks it’s near a crime to make him stay indoors.

He glances at the clock and begins to gather his things as Mrs. Pilson shouts over the bell to announce the night’s homework. If he hurries, he’ll have a whole forty minutes to hang with his mates before practice. He bursts through the double doors of the school, breathing in the cool, crisp afternoon air as he takes the steps two at a time to the sidewalk.

He tosses his ball into the air in his joy to be free for a few hours. Free from the stifling classroom, the books and Mrs. Philson’s droning voice.

That’s when he sees her.

His stomach lurches. The descending ball slips though his hands and he has to scramble to retrieve it as it tumbles into the street.

He can feel the heat rising in his cheeks. Fin hates how easily he reddens. It’s the Irish in him his ma says. She says his pa would color just the same. She says Fin gets it from him. The blushing, and his auburn hair, his green eyes and the freckles. But Fin has studied the pictures for years and never seen the resemblance. Not until recently.

He snatches the ball just before it rolls in front of a car and dashes back to the sidewalk as the driver honks his horn angrily. He hopes for all the world that he doesn’t look like a fool and that she isn’t laughing at him.

She isn’t. In fact she’s taken no notice of him whatsoever. Fin isn’t sure if this isn’t more disappointing.

She is just about the prettiest girl Fin has ever seen. He first laid eyes on her about a fortnight ago and has been looking out for her ever since. He's asked around a bit and has learned that her name is Jane. She attends Warleigh Grammar and is in the year below him. He’s also learned that she is smart. Very smart. Which might explain why both times he’s seen her she’s been on her way to the library.

His current study of her is disturbed by the sound of chattering and harsh laughter and he notices a gaggle of some of the silliest girls he knows following behind her. They’re led by Patricia Smyth, the absolute silliest of the silly and their de facto leader. Patricia walks with her nose in the air, strutting in a manner apparently meant to mimic Jane.

Fin thinks she’s doing very poorly in her parody. Jane moves with a casual confidence whereas Patricia just looks like a buffoon. Still, her sycophantic followers titter their approval. It makes his blood boil.

Fin tucks the ball under his arm and picks up his pace. He passes Jane without meeting her eye and heads straight for the clique behind her.

Fin is not a small lad. He’s grown several inches over the break and surprisingly solid. His cheeks haven’t lost all of their fullness but he can’t help but see the changes. Like his body, his face has grown leaner, with sharper angles and he’s beginning to see what his mother has always said she sees.The face from the photographs.

Other’s see the changes too. That wistful look his ma sometimes gets come more and more often, girls he’s known his whole life are suddenly paying him a lot more attention and, most happily, he’s getting more playing time with the team.

Anyway, the point is, he’s bigger now, and as he aggressively approaches the gang of girls, they have to break formation to avoid a collision and he is effectively able to turn their ire toward him, away from Jane.

“Hey!”

“Watch where you’re going!”

Fin takes some satisfaction in the way they cluck and complain about his lack of chivalry as they try to reform their scattered ranks.

“If you’re hoping to get my attention, you’re going about it all wrong, Fintan O’Reilly!” Patricia shouts in her haughty way.

Fin turns to make a equally haughty bow in return. He sees Jane ascending the steps of the library unmolested and apparently ignorant of the kerfuffle behind her. His chest swells with the knowledge that he’s been of service to her, even if she remains blissfully unaware.

Fin takes off at a run, overcome by a need to burn off a sudden burst of energy.

The next day, he makes a point to walk that way again at the same time and sure enough she comes. This time he follows her inside the library.

She takes a seat at the long table that runs down the center of the main floor and piles an alarming number of text books on the surface beside her.

Fin takes a seat on the opposite side, several feet down, where he can still see her over the partition. He realizes he can’t just sit there and stare, so he decides he might as well get a jump on some reading for class. Won’t Mrs. Pilson be surprised. He pulls a book of his own from his bag and opens it to the assigned chapter.

It’s hard to concentrate. His eyes are constantly drawn to her and he finds it strange, but exhilarating. He’s heard his mates talk about girls often enough and he’s fancied one or two before, but there’s something about this girl that pulls at something deep inside of him and he doesn’t know why, or what to do about it.

When she gets up to wander into the stacks he wonders how she could possibly need another book, but in her absence, he’s able to actually get some reading done and is surprised to find it’s kind of interesting.

Movement near Jane’s chair catches his eye and he looks up in hopes of seeing her one more time before he has to leave for practice but it’s not Jane approaching. It’s Patty Smyth and she looks up to no good. She glances around to make sure she’s not being watched and then snatches a book from Jane’s stack and tucks it to her chest before scurrying off.

Fin rises from his place and follows her as she attempts to disappear into the stacks. He watches from the end of the aisle as she slips the stolen book onto a shelf and with a last look around and a sly smile, hastens away.

It’s not hard to find the book among the others, as it is obviously misfiled. Fin wonders what explanation he’ll give to Jane when he returns it and can feel himself blushing at just the thought of talking to her, but her chair is still empty and he’s able to put the book back in its rightful place with her none the wiser.

He thinks that it might have been nice, had she been there, to be able to explain how he’d helped her but there’s something satisfying about doing it in secret too.

He starts coming everyday. Between school and practice. Just to see her. She always sits in the same spot and soon enough he has a regular spot of his own. Across the table and five chairs down.

He never speaks to her but more than once he’s repeated the rescue a piece of her property. It’s always Patty, or one of her lackeys, that do the pilfering.

He’s heard them talking behind her back, too. They say she acts all stuck-up and superior but she’s really just a dirt poor orphan and only at their school because some wealthy woman took pity on her and pulled strings to get her in.

But Fin knows the real reason Patty and her friends don’t like Jane. Everyone knows the story of the fight.

Patty’s gang was picking on some girl and Jane took exception. Fin hadn't seen the altercation and it’s hard for him to imagine Jane slugging anyone. She’s so quiet and serious, but it sounds like Patty deserved it, so he won’t hold it against Jane. In fact, the story only makes her more interesting to him.

He’s not inclined to hold having no parents against her either. People die, like his pa, or abandon their family, like Danny’s. It’s not like you have any control over that.

He thinks all of this as he retrieves the latest item Patty has snatched, Jane’s straw hat—a staple of the Warleigh Grammar uniform. He finds it atop the bust of Sir Edmund Barton that sits by the encyclopedias.

Fin wonders if Jane has noticed that her things have stopped disappearing and if she is at all curious as to why. If she knew it was because of him, would she thank him? Maybe be so grateful that she’d throw her arms around his neck and give him a hug? Fin finds that thought both exciting and terrifying.

One day Fin is a little late leaving school and gets to the library just as Jane does. He's following her through the door, mesmerized by the way the plaited ropes of her hair swing along her shoulders, when a pencil comes loose from where she’s tucked it behind her ear and falls to the floor.

Fin hurries forward to pick it up. She turns and smiles sweetly, plucking it from his outstretched hand. The tips of her fingers brush lightly against his sending a shiver right through him.

“Ta,” she said, quietly.

His whole body flushes with heat, right to the tips of he ears. He tries to speak but any words he hoped to say evaporate in the heat of her dazzling smile. Tongue-tied, he settles for a small nod of his head. She spins away, her skirt swirling,

After a moment Fin can breath again, but the pounding in his chest remains. It feels like he’s run the length of the pitch.

He’s often imagined their first conversation and that was not at all how it was supposed to go. He was supposed to be suave and charming. She would laugh and be instantly besotted. She’d invite him to sit in the chair by her side. Soon he’d be waiting for her outside the doors of her school and carrying her books as they walked to the library together. Maybe she’d even let him hold her hand.

Instead, she’s in her usual spot without giving him a second glance.

Fin slinks dejected to his seat and chances a glance at her over the partition to see if she’s noticed his proximity. She’s already bent determinedly over a book, reading steadily and occasionally pausing to frantically scribble notes on a pad. He wonders if she is using the pencil he handed her. That thought sends another rush of heat through him and he lowers his own eyes to the desktop to hide what he knows are terribly flushed cheeks.

He gathers up his books and heads outside, the air in the library suddenly too close. He sinks down to sit on the ground, leaning back against a pillar, contemplating his utter failure.

He doesn’t know how long he’s sat there or when she came out, but when he looks toward the street later he sees her. Sitting on the steps, her bag by her side, her head, as always, bent over a book.

Unbeknownst to her, there are two men approaching. The stealthy manner of the one in the lead piques Fin’s interest and he stands to get a better look. As he watches, the lead man snatches the book from Jane’s hand holding it aloft.

“Hey!” she shouts, leaping from her seat and reaching it for it, but he dangles it above her, laughing and taunting.

Fin drops his own bag to the ground and rushes down the steps. The man is larger than him but that doesn’t deter him as he shoves him in the chest.

“You give that back!” Fin shouts. The man reels back in surprise and Fin gears up for another go, when he’s gripped from behind, his arms pinned to his sides and his feet nearly lifted from the ground.

“Whoa, mate! Steady on!” A cheerful voice laughs in his ear.

The first man, the one Fin shoved, is looking at him with a curious and somewhat amused expression.

“That doesn’t belong to you,” Fin says defiantly, struggling against the arms holding him fast, “give it back.”

“Better do as he says, Bert,” Fin’s captive says. The other man, Bert, presumably, holds the book out and Jane snatches it from his hand.

“There now. Are we good?” He asks, smiling.

Fin feels the arms around him loosen. When he stops resisting, he is set free.

“Got yourself a bodyguard now do ya, Jane?” The man called Bert says. The toothpick between his teeth bobbing with the mocking, upward curve of his mouth.

“You should thank the young man for coming to your aid,” the other man—the one with the dark hair and strong grip—says more sincerely.

“I didn’t need any help,” Jane says, defiantly. “It was only Bert.”

Fin can feel the telltale heat of a betraying blush cross his cheeks. He lowers his head in shame.

“But he wasn’t to know that, was he? What if we’d really meant you harm? It was right brave of him to step in.” One of the hands that had been holding him a minute ago, now slaps Fin congenially on the back.

Fin lifts his head to look at the man. Warm, brown eyes look back at him and Fin sees no sign of ridicule in them.

“What’s your name, son?”

“Fintan O’Rielly, sir.”

“Nice to meet you, Fintan. But you can hold the ‘sir.’ I’m Cec and this here is Bert. I’m guessing you already know Miss Jane.”

“Well, no. Not really, sir. We’ve never met.”

“Ya mean you jumped to the rescue of a gal you don’t even know? Any chance you and Cec here are related?” The other man asks.

“I don’t think so,” Fin answers, confused.

“Don’t pay him no mind. Bert’s just having a go at me,” Cec says. “Let me introduce you properly. Fintan O’Rielly, this is Miss Jane Ross.”

“I’ve seen you in the library,” she says.

“Yeah. Same here.”

 _Same here? Is that the best you can do, Fin?_ He feels as though he’s been struck dumb. Behind Jane, he sees the two men exchange a look.

“Where are you headed, son? Can we give you a lift?” Cec asks.

“You don’t mind sharing the ride, do ya, Jane?” Bert adds.

“Of course not.”

She gives Fin such an open smile that his heart soars but the thought of sitting next to her for any length of time makes his palms sweat.

“Thanks anyway,” he says, “but I really couldn’t bother you. I’m only going a couple blocks. To the practice pitch.”

“That’s right on the way. We’d be happy to drop you. Where are your things?”

Fin points dumbly to where he dropped his bag at the top of the steps and then follows Cec as he bounds up to retrieve it. When they reach the top, Cec stoops to pick up the bag.

“That was real nice what you did for Jane,” he says.

Fin shrugs.

“You fancy her?”

Fin figures the fierce blush creeping up his neck is the only answer needed.

“Can I give you a bit of advice?” Cec asks. “I know Jane’s a real special girl but you shouldn’t treat her like a china doll.”

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t get me wrong. It’s good that you want to protect her, but she doesn’t really need that and she might not look too kindly on it if you treat her like she’s helpless. She can take care of herself, our Jane. Just treat her like you would a mate.”

“But I don’t talk to my mates the way you’re supposed to talk to a girl!” Fin objects.

“How are you supposed to talk to a girl?”

“Well, aren’t you suppose to tell them how sweet they are?”

“Sure. I guess some girls like that, but that might not get you too far with Miss Jane and it’d be mighty dull if that’s all you ever talk about, don’t you think?”

“Maybe I’m not smart enough for a girl like her. She’s awful smart,” Fin says, kicking at a pebble on the ground.

“I don’t know. You look bright enough to me. Just be her friend. I promise, she don’t bite. Unless you deserve it.”

Fin looks up in alarm.

“Come on,” Cec laughs.

Fin tells them he’s on his way to practice and as the cab pulls away from the curb they start talking about the season. Jane says that Collingwood is going to win it all.

“You support Collingwood?”

“Yes. What’s your team?”

“Melbourne,” he says, proudly. No matter how pretty she might be, a bloke doesn’t change allegiance for a girl.

“Well, that’s alright. You can support who you like, but I’ll feel sorry for you when Collingwood beats Melbourne.”

The two teams are facing each other in a final round match coming up.

“I’m not worried,” Fin says, “In fact I’ll make a wager on it. If Collingwood beats Melbourne I’ll carry your books for a week.”

“And if Melbourne wins?”

Fin remembers what Cec said about treating Jane like a mate. “Then I guess you carry my books for a week!”

“It’s a deal!”

They laugh while shaking hands on it.

“Sorry about earlier,” he says, “With the book. I didn’t mean to embarrass you. I didn’t know you knew them.”

“That’s alright. How could you have? Bert and Cec don’t mean any harm, they just like to tease.”

“Seems like a lot of people like to tease you.”

“Yes,” she says, “I suppose they do.”

“Does it bother you?”

She shrugs. “I try not to care. It’s not really that important in the scheme of things.”

“But isn’t it annoying when they steal your stuff all the time? He asks without thinking.

Her head snaps around to look at him and she narrows her eyes suspiciously.

“That’s not happening so much anymore,” she says, slowly.

“Oh. Well, that’s good.”

“I thought maybe they just go bored with it.”

“Probably.”

“How’d you know about it anyway?”

“I, uh, I think maybe I heard some people talking about it.”

She doesn’t look like she believes him in the least but she lets it go and Fin is relieved when the cab pulls to the curb next to the practice fields.

“Here you are, Fintan,” Cec said, turning around. “Are those your mates out there?”

“Yeah.”

“You guys any good?”

“We’re not bad.”

“Mind if we come watch a game sometime?”

“We’ve got one next Tuesday. I mean, if you wanted to.”

Fin doesn’t often have an audience at his games. His mom usually has to work. She comes when she can but she doesn’t really understand the game. It’d be nice to have a couple of blokes around who do.

“What do you say Jane? Should we? Might be fun,” Bert says.

“Sure,” she answers easily.

The thought of Jane in the stands to barrack for him is almost more than Fin can stand. He swallows the lump in his throat.

“Thanks for the ride,” he says, climbing out of the cab.

“Will I see you in the library tomorrow?” Jane asks.

“Probably,” he shrugs.

“Good. See you then. And, Fintan? Thank you—for everything.”

She flashes another one of those dazzling smiles at him. He’s sure he’s blushing now, but somehow he doesn’t really mind. He even manages to smile back, feeling ten feet tall.

“See you tomorrow, Jane. And, call me Fin,” he shouts over his shoulder as he runs to the field. “All my friends do.”


End file.
